Frivolous: Adjective. Characterized by lack of seriousness or sense.

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I saw this article and decided to share my thoughts on the matter. I will insert a bit of the article below for reference:

“In a welcome letter to freshmen, the College made clear that it does not condone safe spaces or trigger warnings: Trigger warnings — used to alert students of sensitive material that might be uncomfortable, offensive or traumatic to them, such as discussions about race and sexual assault — and safe spaces, designed to shelter students from certain speakers and topics, have become more common and controversial on campuses across the country.”
– Vivanco, Leonor and Dawn Rhodes. “U. of C. tells incoming freshmen it does not support ‘trigger warnings’ or
‘safe spaces.’” The Chicago Tribune. 25 August 2016.

I think, as the University of Chicago, is not a public school, it should be able to make whatever rules it wants to make. Outsiders have no right to even care about specific regulations at random colleges. The students who chose to attend that university are given fair warning, and they could easily choose not to attend. I think the word “trigger” is being used far too often. Everything is going to upset someone, and “warning” students about anything that could be potentially upsetting would be disruptive to their learning as a whole. As the college stated, “It is not the proper role of the University to attempt to shield individuals from ideas and opinions they find unwelcome, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive,” and I personally, completely agree with that statement.

I definitely believe that we, as a society, have become far too politically correct. It is hard to say anything nowadays especially regarding religion. Anything controversial is now off limits. This stops many intellectual conversations from ever taking place. Everyone seems to be easily offended. There are hardly any “neutral” topics. Without being able to say “triggering” things, we would hardly be able to say anything of interest. It is really a step back with our freedom of speech. Anything can be offensive, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be allowed to say it.

“The university is preparing students for the real world and would not be serving them by shielding them from unpleasantness, said Geoffrey Stone, chair of the committee, law professor and past provost at the U. of C.” I definitely agree with this statement. We already censor far too much in the name of “protection” and I don’t think we are positively benefiting anyone by giving them special treatment that will ultimately leave them underprepared for the real world. The real world is full of awful, violent, offensive, vulgar things. College is supposed to prepare you for life after. Guarding students from things some might find “triggering” is actually stunting their growth.

​The most stressful thing in my life right now is that my friend is hurt. I think I may have ﻿too ﻿much empathy for my friends. Last week my friend was hit by a truck as he skateboarded to school. He is no﻿w in the hospital with a fractured skull, a collapsed lung, and two broken legs. Because he can hardly open his eyes and talk, I can’t even visit him. I am “dealing” with this by constantly checking in with his mom, making meals for his family, and crying a ﻿lot.

Last night I was ready. The answers were all there. Now, they are so far back in my mind that even the smallest of distractions makes my memory disappear. The kid across the room, chewing gum, I want to hit him. Tell him, “Shut up, I’m trying to remember!”